May 2014

Sunday, May 18, 2014

As someone who came to Brazilian jiu jitsu with a wrestling background, I naturally gravitated (especially early on) towards pressure passing and top control. I also found myself unsurprisingly prefering chokes to joint manipulations. Ever since those early days, my go to choke has always been the head and arm triangle (also sometimes ambiguously called the side choke). Not only does this choke come naturally to grapplers with a wrestling background, but it's also a choke regularly used in mixed martial arts since the wearing of gloves doesn't hinder or impede the application of the choke. Most importantly, the arm triangle is both simple and effective. Additionally, as a further bonus, the arm triangle can be applied while on the feet, from side control, from top half guard, and even from bottom closed guard.

Given the many virtues of the arm triangle, I thought I would post several videos that each contain some really helpful details concerning the proper set ups and applications of the choke. As Dean Lister shows in the first video, the standard defense against the arm triangle--namely, "talking on the phone"--only prolongs the agony. It is unlikely to rescue you from being choked. But fear not, intrepid grapplers, as Kurt Osiander shows in the final video, you may save yourself from the arm triangle even if you've already "fucked up a long time ago" and allowed your opponent to get in the position to apply the choke.

All in all, I think both the application and the defense of the arm triangle ought to be added to every person's grappling tool kit. So, watch, learn, and go train!

p.s. One of the things I like the most about the arm triangle is that you can set it up while still in the top half guard position. However, a common mistake I find myself committing while in this position is getting too far forward--which allows one's opponent to sweep from bottom half guard. After this happened to me a few times in practice recently, some of the upper belts suggested that it's best to work on getting the pass first and then focusing on setting up and applying the choke. That's sage advice that I thought I would pass along! I, for one, will try to keep it in mind the next time I get ahead of myself in top half guard!

Friday, May 09, 2014

As this image shows, Grandmaster Relson Gracie doesn't care for creontes--that is, jiu jitsu traitors, the lowest of the low! As someone who received my purple belt from Relson shortly before switching gyms--thereby seemingly violating one of the fundamental rules of traditional jiu jitsu--I thought I would give my two cents on the history of the charge of creonteism! For starters, what does it mean to be a creonte? Originally, "Creonte" was the name of a character in a popular soap opera in Brazil--a character who regularly displayed a lack of loyalty to those who helped him in the past. In short, Creonte was a purely self-interested traitor--someone to be both distrusted and despised.

Later, Grandmaster Carlson Gracie adopted the name as a label for high level jiu jitsu students who switched schools and hence switched allegiances--which was ironic given that one of the key differences that led to the split between Carlson and Grandmaster Helio Gracie was that Carlson was willing to teach the "secret" Gracie techniques and not just the self defense curriculum (see below for more on this issue). Since Carlson began calling his ex-students creontes, it has unsurprisingly always been a term of derision in the jiu jitsu world. To be labeled as a creonte is to be identified as someone who ought to be outright ostracized. As such, being a creonte was traditionally one of the central sins of old school jiu jitsu and a label the Gracies (and their students and followers) took very seriously. On this view, a creonte is someone who steals secret techniques under confidence and then shares them with rivals at other schools. So, not only is a creonte disloyal and distrusted, but he is a thief of techniques as well! But should the label "creonte" still be used and taken seriously today? In short, no.